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Sisygambis Mistaking Hephaestion for Alexander: A Historical Fact

“is the tale of Sisygambis mistaking hephaistion for alexander true?”
True, historically attested
Confidence: High Checked on June 18, 2026

Summary

Ancient historians such as Diodorus, Arrian and Curtius recount that Sisygambis, the Persian queen mother, knelt before Hephaestion, mistaking him for Alexander because of his height and bearing. Alexander corrected her error, spared the royal family, and the episode is recorded in modern scholarly references, confirming its status as a genuine historical anecdote.

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Sources 78 searched

aawsat.com
mayoclinic.org
en.wikipedia.org
  • Sisygambis - Wikipedia

    He captured them but treated them with all dignity, where many others would have executed them out of hand. When Alexander and Hephaestion went together to visit the captured Persian royal family, Sisygambis knelt to Hephaestion to plead for their lives, mistaking him for Alexander — Hephaestion ...

  • Hephaestion - Wikipedia

    Diodorus, Arrian and Curtius all ... Persian royal family. Its senior member, the queen Sisygambis, knelt to Hephaestion to plead for their lives, having mistaken him for Alexander because he was taller, and both young men were wearing similar clothes....

iranicaonline.org
  • SISIGAMBIS - Encyclopaedia Iranica

    3.12.15-26, Alexander and Hephaestion visit the captive women, Sisigambis mistakes Hephaestion for Alexander, and Alexander, after correcting her error, promises that the royal family will be treated with all the respect they enjoyed before ...

worldhistory.org
  • Hephaestion - World History Encyclopedia

    Realizing the fate of most prisoners ... as Alexander and Hephaestion entered the tent, she threw herself before the taller and more handsome Hephaestion, begging for her life....

livius.org
  • Hephaestion - Livius

    After the visit to Troy, Hephaestion disappears for some time from our sources. This suggests that he was with Alexander and did not occupy commands worth mentioning. It is only after the battle of Issus (November 333) that we reencounter Hephaestion in our sources, in a famous anecdote.

pothos.org
  • pothos.org - Sisygambis, the Queen Mother

    Sisygambis assumed that Hephaestion was the king, because he was the taller and more handsome of the two. When she realised her mistake she feared retribution; but Alexander forgave her. He promised that she and her family would be treated as befitted their rank, and that her grand-daughters, ...

medicalguidelines.msf.org
nationalgeographic.com
kateaaron.com
hellenicaworld.com
  • Hephaestion

    After the Battle of Issus,, Alexander and Hephaestion went to inspect the spoils of war, which included King Darius's baggage train, family and royal harem. At this interval Sisygambis, the Persian queen mother, allegedly mistook the taller Hephaestion for Alexander, who graciously excused ...

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